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Storytelling and Fairytales Through Time (CHeldenbrand)
Introduction Orality to Page to Screen PlatoPlato, "Phaedrus." Course Readings, HUM211 said it is disgraceful to rely on anything but your very own memory for recollection and information storage because only then is the wisdom truly yours. Anyone who knows nothing can play parrot and read or say what someone else has recorded; that wisdom is not truly theirs. In other words, writing is “pretending to establish outside the mind what in reality can only be in the mind.” That loyalty to the spoken word worked fine when each individual group of people barely interacted with anyone other than themselves on a regular basis, but that is not the world we live in anymore. Since our social lives are so much more wide spread, it is only fitting we have a communication style which can cover greater distances and wider relations as well. So writing was invented and then the [https://aehistory.wordpress.com/1440/10/07/1440-invention-of-the-printing-press/ printing press] made its appearance in 1440; many papyrus sheets and trimmed forests later, our world is even smaller and they figured out how to harness lightning and charge the public, so we now immediately send pixelated characters across ones, zeros, and Wi-Fi. One genre so immensely affected and altered with each development of styles of communication is storytelling. The progression basically went something like this: once upon a time, all fables, tales, legends, myths, parables, and stories had no other way to be passed down or survive except orally – meaning ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Mermaid The Little Mermaid]'' may have begun as someone’s bedtime story. When written language became accessible to commoners, Ariel and Flounder crowded up someone’s desk drawer. Later, as a printed and published item (under the credit of Hans Christian Andersen), more and more people were able to experience the adventure of the fish princess out of water. The next development is arguable the most influential and iconic adjustment for storytelling as an art: the silver screen of television. Moving pictures visually laid out the entire story allowing a perspective as if the audience could walk right along the beach as well! Now a television is just a thin frame of an on-demand magic portal. When someone wants to get told a story, they click a few buttons, make some sort of digital currency transaction, and watch King Triton get mad at his red-headed daughter for falling in love with a human all day long! These new medias and new technologies allow all those previously oral traditions to become digital literary factors. Stephen King’s “Word Processor of the GodsKing, Stephen. "Word Processor Of the Gods." Class Readings,” a metaphor for how new technology can transform the world we live in, makes a perfect statement about all that has come to be accomplished and how the world of storytelling has been transformed by a wired world. Preexisting Fairytale? Disney Can Remediate That! Stephanie BurtBurt, Stephanie, "The Promise and Potential of Fan Fiction." Course Readings, HUM211’s “The Promise and Potential of Fan Fiction” says “In portraying characters that other people already recognize, characters whose further adventures people already want to read, nonprofessional creators can find a wholly voluntary, non-paying audience of people whom they will never meet. No clearer path from new writers to potentially interested readers has existed in the history of civilization.” Walt Disney built an entire empire off of that very principle. ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarves'' was a popular German fairytale published by the Brothers Grimm in the 1800s. ''Peter Pan'' was a preexisting play owned by the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. ''Alice in Wonderland'' was written by Lewis Carroll. Even the brand new stuff such as ''Frozen'' is preexisting in nature – another Hans Christian Andersen story. Disney remediates! Then comes along Once Upon A Time, a show that builds on every single fairytale character’s stories, intertwines them, makes presumptions and answers questions originally unconsidered, and puts them all in the same town of magical havoc. It is the remediated fan fiction of a bunch of many times over remediated characters. Once Upon A Time in itself is an ultimate success of fan fiction and remediation and the exploitation of technology as a literary device and storytelling agent. In this project, several sites are explored to analyze the web presence of Once Upon A Time with its fanbase. Remediation, fan fictions, interpretational disputes, and disapprovals will be contemplated going forward. Remediation Remediation occurs when new and better technologies replace old ones and texts are presented in the new forms of mediation, therefore “re-mediated”. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy_tale Fairy tales] are the perfect example of a genre that has been told through so many vehicles as discussed above; these texts have been mediated and remediated over and over and over again and continue to be retold and bestowed upon adoring audiences and “readers” because newer, better styles of storytelling continually arise. First orality and word of mouth was replaced with literary fixed text and a published form, then Walt and Mickey animated them for television, and now Hollywood cannot get enough of remediating them all again into a live action format with their computer generated images. Another fantastic form of remediation now available thanks to all those ones and zeros and our wired world is “readers” reliving and responding to the text online then other readers responding still to that text. The internet allows these communities to arise and gives the ability to cyber-assembly to all who love or hate or just want to discuss the same topics. Cyber space is that forum where those enthusiasts, haters, and fans of all kinds can discuss, analyze, criticize, and even manipulate the text. Fan Fiction The internet allows all intellectual material to be instantaneously available for the discussion, analysis, criticism, and manipulation mentioned above by almost anyone. Now, anyone can become an author utilizing characters and even plots they didn’t create themselves: this genre is called fan fiction. Because of this possibility, stories don’t solely belong to their original authors anymore; fans can decide the story doesn’t end there, add to and alter and manipulate the text, and make different decisions for the characters. In this light, the authors are more fittingly called original creators – those who spawn subject matter for their readers. Readers and responders to the text have become authors to their own versions of the stories. Flexible rather than concrete, the texts themselves are foundations for potential adventures beyond their original stories instead of the capstone where it all ends. There are almost 40,000 fan fictions written about Once Upon A Time. One in particular, [https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11619972/1/For-Once-Let-Go For Once, Let Go] explores a more romantic relationship between main characters Emma Swan and Killian Jones (aka Captain Hook). Other fan fiction pieces explore relationships among other characters in both romantic and antagonistic ways. These fan fictions bring to light the desires and imaginations of the Once Upon A Time fanbase. Fan fiction addresses and foils one of Plato’s greatest complaints about the written word addressed in Ong’Ong, Walter. "Writing Restructures Consciousness." Course Readings, HUM211s “Writing Restructures Consciousness”: that it is unresponsive and cannot defend itself if questioned. Plato said only the “natural spoken word” can be backed up by “active thought.” Ong also discusses the deadness of written text – inhuman and unchanging and rigid. He recognizes a paradox of that state saying “[the fixed state of written text] assures its endurance and its potential for being resurrected into limitless living contexts by a potentially infinite number of living readers.” Fan fiction, forums of discussion, and the internet allow instantaneous connection and dialogue between authors and responders. In this current world mostly linked through cyber space, we utilize text through pixels to communicate just as much if not more primarily than speaking. Speech is no longer the primary communicator. It is the written word on the internet and it is all but dead. It is supported by active thought because of how instantaneous all reactions and connections can be; it does change and it can be questioned and it can respond and defend itself. Texts are consistently resurrected into living contexts by living readers every day in this genre of fan fiction. Interpretive Disputes and Disapprovals Despite its wide acclaim and great reception among audiences, the Once Upon a Time community still had its disgruntled dissidents. One woman, [https://tinyurl.com/y9z7dnh4 Krystal Blaze Dean]The Odyssey Online Article: https://tinyurl.com/y9z7dnh4, who used to be a fan, voiced her opinion of the show on her blog. She finds much to be desired regarding characters being brought on for a few episodes then being discarded as well as plot holes that Dean calls “too confusing.” She also felt that characters development was rushed and characters who could have added to the show were sent back to their realm after two or three episodes. The show left such a poor taste in her mouth that she “can’t think of a single thing that would bring [her] back to watching Once Upon a Time.” Reddit commenter [https://tinyurl.com/y85yoe25 Geroots] harkens its to Once Upon a TIme director's other large hit LOST asserting that Once Upon a Time becomes “soapy and serialized” and neglects its minor characters more than it shouldReddit Thread Link: https://tinyurl.com/y85yoe25. What others like, viewers like these interpret them to be sappy and unnecessarily dramatic. The most grievous claim to be found was one that accuses Once Upon a Time of normalizing rape . In two instances, a [https://tinyurl.com/yah62qff witch] poses as a younger and more beautiful lady in order to seduce a young handsome man with the intention to get pregnantGizmodo Article: https://tinyurl.com/yah62qff. Another outspoken viewer, Sarah Silva takes her claim to twitter regarding Regina having sex with Graham, whom she controls, as he could not consentMary Sue Article: https://tinyurl.com/ydxm7962. In the same thread with Sarah Silva, the director of the show Adam Horowitz denies that Regina’s control over Graham was not used for sex therefore there was no un-consensual behaviorHorowitz Forum Link: https://tinyurl.com/ydh6hu8x. The other instances mentioned above go uncontested. The problem that appears the most viewers is the poor writing of the later seasons; they claim that the first few seasons were higher in story quality but it tapers as the show continues. However, its storyline does tend to be a matter of taste as commenter [https://tinyurl.com/ycfgh6xp LadeeCrystal]TV.Com Article: https://tinyurl.com/ycfgh6xp reports that “Providing a modern twist to many Disney/fairytale characters has been a theme which never gets old.” There are also those who claim that if you love Disney, any semblance of poor story telling really does not get in the way. It is certainly a matter of interpretation. References List